Alumni

‘Making’ News on Campus

We have heard from numerous alumni about how making things enhanced their experience at MIT, and prepared them to make an impact on the world.

We find our alumni are most keen to hear about, and help with, the following Project Manus programs:

MIT’s Maker Revolution (MIT BetterWorld)

The Maker Revolution happening at MIT is extremely important to the Institute and Project Manus is one of the funds that you can contribute directly to through MIT’s Campaign for a Better World. If you would like to speak to someone at MIT about donating, please contact Catherine Qin Shi in MIT’s Office of Resource Development. Help us make MIT and the world a better place.

If you have ideas for MIT’s makersystem, or want to share your story of Making at MIT, we’d love to hear. Please contact Jonathan Hunt at jmhunt@mit.edu.

Maker Bucks program

What is Maker Bucks?

Yes, students build things in class, or in their research… and this is paid for. But you know that MIT students’ making doesn’t stop there. As a student, how much money did you spend out of pocket on personal projects, or to make that prototype you needed for your 1st start up? You always had money burning a hole in your pocket that you could spend on this, right? No… probably you didn’t. Imagine if we could give each student $150/year of Maker Bucks on their student ID to spend on non-class/non-research making! How would that have transformed, or made easier, your MIT making experience? Maker Bucks is going to do that for our students.

How can you help?

The Maker Bucks program will be an endowment-based program. The earnings from that endowment will be used to deposit allotments of Maker Bucks each year. These Maker Bucks can only be spent in the MIT makerspaces on making. Enacting this program will require an endowed fund. We are looking to our alumni to help raise the funds for this endowment. We are in the process of working with Resource Development to formalize Maker Bucks giving, but in the mean time if you are interested, please contact Yumi Yasutake in MIT’s Office of Resource Development.

The MET Makerspace – 20,000 ft2 for unrestricted making

What’s going on?
Remember the MET Warehouse on Vassar and Mass Ave? MIT is adding a 20,000 ft2 makerspace on its 1st floor! The MET will be the largest academic maker space in existence, and it will integrate new maker technology, student staff (mentors) and policies/procedures that will make access a breeze. Enhancements including the MET are part of the MIT’s Maker Revolution in the Campaign for a Better World. If you are in the MIT community and want to make something, come on in… research, class work, personal projects, entrepreneurship.

How can you help?
1. The perspective of our alumni brings important insight that we want to use to build the best makerspace. This makerspace that will play a key role in preparing our students to make the kinds of impact that you have/will make. We are assembling an alumni advisory board to help design the space and advise on programming and management of the space. If you would like to join the advisory board, contact Prof. Culpepper (via Saana at saana@mit.edu).

2. This project is a massive undertaking, and it will transform the way making is done on our campus for the next 20 years. MIT is a leader in the field, therefore, this will also serve as a ‘gold standard’ for next generation makerspaces. This also ushers in a new paradigm, the integration with makerspaces into residential dorms. We are looking to our alumni to give and support the technology and themed areas of the space. If you’d like to help, please contact Yumi Yasutake in MIT’s Office of Resource Development.